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Realms
by Night - Part 3
The Magistree, or The Hanging Tree of Ravencourt

By Steven Schend

Typical Location: Sea Ward - Ravencourt, the alleyway/court within the
block bounded by Phastal Street and Sanborim Street just west of Heroes
Garden.

This lonely shadowtop tree looms alone behind a number of one- and two-story
taverns and tenements, and as the trees ghost manifests so rarely, it
is often forgotten until it strikes again. Ravencourt gains its name from both
the stone ravens at the gables on the four central buildings within the court
and the many normal ravens that frequent this court. Though the name is long
forgotten, a former nobles villa once graced this area and its patriarch
was one of the first loyal magisters (judges) slain during the Misrule of the
Lords Magister. He was hanged from his own treethus naming it forever
the Magistreeand then buried without ceremony beneath its roots.

Ever since the burial of the magister and the looting and destruction of his
family home among the warring guild factions, the trees bark became as
dark as a magisters robes. When the tale is remembered, folk say that
anyone guilty of a crime yet uncaught by the authorities in Waterdeep should
fear the Hanging Tree of Ravencourt. If they walk beneath its branches or even
its shadow, the Magistree will lash out with branch and shadow and hang the
malefactor by the neck until dead. Even as a vengeful spirit after death, the
Magistree only hangs those guilty of crimes that are punishable by death in
the City of Splendors.

Related Stories:

Many would-be grave robbers and treasure hunters have died upon the stout limbs
of the Magistree as they upturn the ground beneath the old, gnarled tree looking
for the bones of the long-dead magister. Rumors have spread over the years of
a magical treasure from Ahghairons vaults that allegedly animates the
tree, and many seek the First Lords secrets yet today. All attempts in
the past to set the spirit within the tree to rest have failed, and the tales
talk of twigs and leaves falling from the tree to form messages in rough Common.

DMs Notes:

Should the PCs ever need a way of ascertaining the guilt or innocence of a
person, bringing them to Ravencourt and telling the tale of the Hanging Tree
could unnerve the guilty into confession or steel the innocent into proving
such by stepping beneath the tree.